However, I am inclined to think that the power arrayed against Sauron was not 'overwhelming'. The White Council was not completely in accord, and one of its most powerful members, Saruman, was dissembling and reluctant to force the issue. Saruman finally acquiesced to the Council's wishes, but one gets the inference that his heart was not in it, and his mind, even back then, was drawn to searching for the Ring for himself. Two novel-length stories nominated for 2009 MEFAs--